[Read Full Article]Situational Statistics: This Year’s Shooting Guard CropJune 10, 2010Terrico White turned the ball over on an extremely low 9% of his possessions—hinting at his frustrating lack of aggressiveness, and didn’t stand out in too many other areas. His biggest weakness was his ability to hit shots with a hand in his face off a catch (0.65 PPP on 2.5/G), which manifested itself when he was playing shooting guard and working off of screens. For a player with such excellent physical tools, you would have liked to see him get to the rim or draw more fouls than he was able to at Ole Miss. [Read Full Article]Analyzing the NBA Combine MeasurementsMay 22, 2010Terrico White doesn't always play like the point guard many project him as, but that doesn't seem to be an issue considering he's 6-3 ¾, with a 6-9 wingspan--more than adequate size for an NBA shooting guard.

White had a very good weekend here at the combine, looking smooth and polished in the drills and showing off a terrific shooting stroke. He's a chiseled specimen as well. He has an absurdly low body fat percentage of 3.7%. [Read Full Article]NCAA Weekly Performers, 3/17/10March 17, 2010Scott Nadler

After an uninspiring end to the season for Terrico White and his Ole Miss team, the athletic combo guard will have a chance to show once again why he’s an intriguing NBA prospect with his team’s invitation to the N.I.T. White has a lot of things going for him, including his terrific physical tools and stellar mid-range game, but questions still linger regarding his lack of a defined position, poor production this season and nonchalant nature.

Whether he’s playing point guard or as a wing playing off the ball, as long as White is on the court he is thinking shot. He has great natural scoring instincts and as mentioned in our previous write up, his mid range game is one of his strongest assets – showing the ability to stop on a dime off the bounce or curling off a screen. The difference however from our last evaluation is that his field goal percentage has dipped to 43.3% (White was shooting close to 45% in the 1st half of the season) – leveling out to about the same percentage as a year ago. Part of the season for this drop is his shot selection – as he’s continued to take contested shots all season long and settle for tough floaters in the lane, part of the season his team struggled as badly as they did to close off the year.

Another skill that he is yet to fully incorporate into his game is that of getting to the foul line. He currently shoots 4.2 free throws per 40 pace adjusted, and with someone with his superb athletic ability and strong frame, he should be getting there more often.

After watching the 67 shots at the basket in the 23 games that we have at our disposal, it’s obvious that White has the ability to get in the paint, but he noticeably shies away from contact most of the time. His shots at the rim come in transition, two foot tear drops, fade-away’s in the lane or using his athleticism to avoid defenders - getting cute and creative to finish.

Once, or more likely if he begins showing the propensity to use his outstanding body to go through players and embrace that contact, his production will surely increase.

Another contributing factor to his lack of free throw attempts is White’s below average ball handling skills. He rarely alters his pace, isn’t fully capable of changing direction, and he’s not strong enough with the ball to handle it consistently against pressure right now. At times he appears tentative to go out and make plays, which has caused him to disappear in quite a few important games this season, one of the reasons his exceptionally talented team missed the NCAA tournament. On the positive side though is White’s improved free throw percentage, going from 62.8% last season to 70.1% this year.

His point guard skills as a whole however are less than impressive. He’s still only averaging 1.5 assists a game which ranks him as one of the worst passers in our database amongst starting guards. He simply was not looking to create shots for others this year, appearing far more concerned with going out and getting his own offense. He is only averaging 1.3 turnovers a game, which is impeccable for any guard, but a lot of that has to do with him shooting on most possessions and not even trying to attempt to create for others.

White's fundamentals, feel for the game and understanding of how to maximize his physical tools in a half-court offense all need quite a bit of work.

On the defensive end, White has all the physical tools to be a very good defender, but has been inconsistent at this end. He goes through spurts of playing hard or using the defensive possession to relax. Closing out on shooters is an area he’s struggled with, but he’s certainly improved in containing the ball handler and stopping dribble penetration.

White has the makings of a Flip Murray-type rotation player with his terrific ability to put the ball in the basket. With that said, he had a very poor sophomore season and could likely use another year of college basketball to further develop the areas in his game that need improving. After a rather disinterested finish to the regular season however, it appears as though White will be testing the waters, as he does not seem to have faith in his situation being different next year. [Read Full Article]NCAA Weekly Performers, 1/20/10January 20, 2010Jonathan Givony

Few players in college basketball draw such varying opinions over his pro potential than Ole Miss’ Terrico White. A relatively unheralded high school recruit who was thrust into the role of Ole Miss’ starting point guard very early on in his freshman season, White was named freshman of the year in the SEC and has seen his draft stock fluctuate dramatically ever since.

The physical tools that White brings to the table are simply undeniable. With ample size at 6-5 to play either backcourt position, White sports a ridiculously long wingspan to go along with an outstanding frame and superior athleticism.

The place that White has clearly improved the most between his freshman and sophomore seasons is with his shooting stroke. His mid-range game looks like a potentially superb weapon for the NBA, sporting great elevation on his jump-shot, incredibly smooth mechanics, and an ultra quick release.

Despite the fact that he rarely gets to the basket (only 26% of his shooting attempts come around the rim), his field goal percentages have improved this season, largely due to the fact that he’s shooting 37% from beyond the arc. He shoots the ball the same pretty much every time—always looking extremely smooth and natural in the process—and would probably be converting at a much better rate if he were able to improve his shot-selection.

As a shot-creator, White has plenty of room for improvement, something that was probably masked to a certain extent last year when he played the point full time and had the ball in his hands all the time. His ball-handling skills—particularly with his left hand—are average, and he rarely gets to the free throw line despite showing a terrific first step and outstanding body control in the lane.

Too often White is content taking a pick and just settling for a pull-up jumper, rarely looking to get all the way to the basket. When he does get into the paint, it’s usually to try a floater from 5-8 feet away, a shot that is nice to see in his arsenal but he relies on far too heavily upon considering the degree of difficulty. He has a great deal to learn about the nuances of initiating contact and finishing strong around the basket, as he’s far too physically gifted to be content making a living in the mid-range.

As a point guard, White has clearly taken a step back from last year. He averages a miniscule amount of assists—1.7 per-40 minutes pace adjusted, ranking him dead last in assist ratio amongst all point guards or combo guards in college basketball. While there are plenty of counterarguments that can be made to justify this stat—he plays next to a very wild and often selfish point guard (Chris Warren) who thoroughly dominates the ball—there is no way around the fact that in the minutes that he does man the point he dribbles the ball with his head down and rarely shows much in the way of playmaking instincts.

To White’s credit, he does a terrific job of not turning the ball over—ranking 1st in that category as well. He’s been criticized at times for not being assertive enough, something that this stat seems to hint at, but clearly his role on this Ole Miss team is to act as a finisher and not a creator.

Defensively, White has taken a big step forward this year. That’s not a surprise when you consider his outstanding potential in this area, with his terrific size, length, strength and athleticism. On the ball he uses his tools exceptionally well to stay in front of his man and force contested looks, but off the ball his occasional lack of intensity and fundamentals will result in some easy baskets for the opposition.

White is the type of player who can come into an NBA private workout and absolutely blow a team away with his physical tools, shooting stroke and tremendous upside. At the same time, his lack of assertiveness as a slasher is concerning, and there is no doubt that he could use another season in college to stabilize his draft stock, become more confident on and off the court, and continue to add polish to his very improvable weaknesses. He’ll be facing a tough decision regarding whether or not to declare for the draft this spring. On one hand his talent is undeniable, but on the other we’ve seen plenty of players in his mold get shoved to the sidelines early on in their NBA careers playing for bad organizations and eventually get lost somewhere along the way. [Read Full Article]USA Basketball Junior National Teams Tryouts: Top PerformersJune 20, 2009While Terrico White’s name doesn’t roll off the tongues of NBA scouts or college basketball enthusiasts that easily, that appears likely to change sometime in the near future. The SEC freshman of the year showed possibly the best upside of any prospect in attendance on the U-19 team, and looks like a pretty likely candidate to play in the NBA at some point in time.
White stands out immediately for his terrific physical profile, as he is an outstanding athlete with a great frame and good size for either guard position. With starting point guard Chris Warren out with a torn ACL from very early on in the season, the freshman was forced to play primarily at the point guard spot for Ole Miss, which likely helped speed his development considerably and really allowed him to shine.

Regardless of the fact that he is not a terribly polished player offensively, White has some very nice tools which can be harnessed and developed in the next few years. Unlike almost any other prospect here, White is capable of going out and getting his shot almost whenever he pleases, thanks to his terrific first step and nice scoring instincts. On top of that, he’s also an effective shooter, showing very nice mechanics and great elevation getting up off the floor to get his shot off, both from beyond the arc and pulling up off the dribble from mid-range.

With that said, White has quite a few holes to his game that he’ll need to round out before he can even come close to reaching his full potential. For one, his fundamentals and decision making skills are fairly poor, as he has a tendency to over-dribble in the half-court and show bad shot-selection. He relies far too heavily on his 3-point stroke considering how talented an athlete he is, as nearly 50% of his attempts this season came from beyond the arc. He doesn’t get to the free throw line very often and still needs to learn how to use his quickness and leaping ability to create better shots around the basket, as he often prefers to settle for contested fade-away jumpers.

Defensively, White again has tools, with his great size, frame, length and lateral quickness, but he doesn’t quite know how to use them just yet. His fundamentals are average, quickly getting out of his stance and swiping at the ball excessively, and gambling in the passing lanes. He shows pretty good intensity on this side of the floor though, so it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him develop significantly in this area as his college career moves along.

White is a guy to keep under the radar for now, but if he puts the work in and is able to become a smarter and more complete all-around player, he could really emerge as an interesting prospect down the road. In the meantime he should be patient and not try to rush things too quickly. [Read Full Article]